"Ow, ow..." Chifuyu rose from a nap on the sofa in Taylor's office, sitting down before sighing.
"You're finally awake," Taylor approached him with a folder, "We're taking on another murder case, are you well enough to do an on-site investigation?" he told the 17-year-old.
"Geez, why is Paris such a mess?" Chifuyu rolled his eyes as he yawned, "Let's get going then," he jumped up and started walking out of the room with Taylor following behind him.
"I've also gotten an update, apparently Roland is recovering pretty well so we might be able to interview him soon." Taylor said.
"Took good few months, seems like The Reaper is a handful." Chifuyu said.
"Have you been taking him lightly this entire time??" Taylor was somewhat in disbelieve.
"Of course not, old man." Chifuyu rolled his eyes again, "To me, The Reaper is nothing more than crazy person. There's a big possibility that he's defenceless without his Harvesters, which is why I think the Harvesters are more troublesome than The Reaper himself." He explained.
"That is a possibility, but we can't be too sure." Taylor nodded slightly, "Still, I'm surprised you think of The Reaper that way..." he added in marvelment.
"For me, I can just not listen to what The Reaper has to say. I don't really have anything he can threaten me with," Chifuyu leaned his head, "I don't really think someone like The Reaper would target my pet ferret for a threat, that would just look like a lame ransom." He added.
"What about your friends? Take my daughter and Lucas for example," Taylor furrowed a brow, "And what about me? Will you not care if any of us were used for the threat?" he asked.
"You're all precious to me and I would totally come to the rescue if any of you were kidnapped, is that what you want to hear?" Chifuyu asked back as he folded his arms, catching Taylor off guard.
"What's with his attitude??" he thought.
"I've already went through the loss of those close to me, I hate to experience it again." Chifuyu averted his eyes to avoid Taylor's, "I don't have much time left either, so I'll do whatever I can before The Reaper decides throw a threat." His voice was solemn, which caught Taylor by surprise again.
"Chifuyu..." he was speechless.
"Getting off topic, why does Mister Clark smile 24/7??" Chifuyu suddenly raised his lower lip.
"Huh...?" Taylor paused.
"He's creepy, I could hardly imagine what he looks like when he's mad." Chifuyu furrowed his brows as he sinks into his imaginations.
"There he goes again..." Taylor was still not used to Chifuyu's mood swings. "Why are you so curious about that?" Taylor doesn't find Victor's friendly demeanour odd.
"I just said it, it's creepy." Chifuyu grunted slightly as the carriage stops.
"Oh my gosh! Thank goodness you're here as well, young man!" a woman ran to Chifuyu as soon as he jumped out of the carriage, "I'm so relieved you're also a part of this investigation, I want answers who would do this to my daughter!" she grabbed into Chifuyu's sleeves.
"This is Shirley Gordon, the victim's mother." Taylor told Chifuyu.
"The victim's mother? I see..." Chifuyu nodded his head.
"Please, I want to know who did this to my daughter! She doesn't deserve this!!" Shirley clenched her grip on Chifuyu's sleeves as she looked down to sob, Taylor was confused when Chifuyu remained silent and stared at the woman melancholily for a few moments.
"Don't worry, ma'am. Justice for the victims always come soon when I'm part of the investigation," Chifuyu told the woman with a gentle voice and smile, "Leave this to us, okay?" he added.
"Yes... thank you..." the woman sighed as Jeffrey arrived in his car.
"You're here, Jeffrey." Taylor greeted Jeffrey while Chifuyu was patting the woman.
"I could've come a lot sooner if it wasn't for a flat tire..." Jeffrey grunted lightly.
"Stay outside with Mrs. Gordon, Chifuyu and I will head inside." Taylor instructed him.
"Yes, sir." Jeffrey nodded as Shirley released Chifuyu, "Please wait outside, ma'am." He said to the woman as Chifuyu and Taylor walked into the house.
"Wow, I can smell the blood all the way from here..." Chifuyu said as soon as Taylor opened the door to the house, "It's upstairs, right?" he asked the detective.
"Yeah," Taylor walked up the stairs with Chifuyu following behind him.
"You better give me a summary of this case, old man, because you didn't let me read the files at all." Chifuyu reminded Taylor with his arrogant tone of voice.
"Before that, why did you stare at Mrs. Gordon like that?" Taylor was curious, Chifuyu paused for a few seconds.
"Oh, she just reminded me of my mom a little bit." He responded in a rather hesitant tone, "My mom worries and cares about me a lot," he added.
"Really? What about your dad? What is he like?" Taylor smiled, but turned into a confused expression when Chifuyu stopped on his tracks with his head down and clenched fists.
"Stop trying to pry into my life already," his voice was solemn, "I'm not interested in opening about my family, remembering them is agonising." He added as he walked pass Taylor into a room.
"I'm sorry..." Taylor apologized, "So enigmatic..." he thought as he followed Chifuyu.
"Whatever, just give me a summary of the situation already." Chifuyu pouted to Taylor as he puts on rubber gloves to investigate the scene in front of him.
"Marie Gordon, arrived home last night at 9.30 p.m. and found murdered this morning at 4 a.m. by her mother. She's 18 years old and attends Paris University in the Science department, she was last seen with her boyfriend and best friend, Tony Alfred and Ruby Carlie the same night she went home at 7 p.m. at a bar." Taylor read his memo pad, "Current suspects are Tony Alfred, Ruby Carlie, and Zoey Robin." He added.
"Who's Zoey Robin??" Chifuyu questioned him.
"Sorry, Zoey Robin is Marie Gordon's senior who bullied her for 3 years now. They're famous to not have a nice relationship," Taylor continued.
"Did you bring them in for questioning?" Chifuyu walked around the room after observing the dead body on the floor, "A note?" he found a note on the victim's bed and placed it into an evidence bag.
"Not yet," Taylor watched him walk around the room.
"Great~, because I would like to perform my very own investigation beforehand." Chifuyu smirked.
"What investigation...?" Taylor suspected Chifuyu to do something mischievous.
"I want a background file on those three, but more importantly, I want their address." Chifuyu smiled.
"I knew it..." Taylor rolled his eyes and sighed, "I'll get Jeffrey on the background check, and I'll give you the addresses." He gave up.
"Nice~ Thanks a lot, old man~" Chifuyu grinned before walking out of the house.
Chifuyu plopped down on the sofa in Taylor's office as soon as he returned with the detective, who was taking off his coat and hat before sitting down behind his desk.
"Ouch..." Chifuyu mumbled, his face remained buried into the lounge pillow.
"Did you forget your injuries hasn't fully recovered yet, is that it?" Taylor sighed as he took the phone on his desk to make a call, "Make sure you don't cause chaos, Chifuyu, I'm letting you break into these suspects' houses just one time." He told the 17-year-old.
"Yes, sir." Chifuyu turned around to lay on his back instead of his front, then held the end of his silver earring between the tips of his index and thumb as he dazed to the ceiling with a solemn expression that made Taylor pause from dialling numbers.
"What are you thinking about?" he was curious.
"Why do you want to know?" Chifuyu's expression turned into a triggering one as he spoke with a mocking tone, that made Taylor clench the phone in his hand.
"Stop keeping everything to yourself, kid, I'm getting worried." Taylor sighed, cooling his frustration down.
"Well, I'll let you know that there's no need to, old man." Chifuyu raised his chin as he looked away, "I was just thinking about The Reaper, nothing else." He admitted eventually, but Taylor couldn't tell if he was being truthful or not.
"I see," Taylor nodded slightly.
"Old man, can I ask you something?" Chifuyu's solemn voice signalled to Taylor he would be throwing a serious question.
"Go on,"
"I went through the updated version of The Reaper's victims, and my family is at the top of the list..." Chifuyu said gravely, "Does that mean my family were the first victims?" he asked.
"That's correct. Actually, we discovered your family two years before all the other murders of Japanese people, it was a cold murder case before. After further investigation, we discovered that the murderer of your family had a connection with The Reaper. I was in charge of The Reaper's case since the very beginning, and since your family is Japanese, I connected the two cases together, and the two ended up having the same culprit which is The Reaper." Taylor's explanation made Chifuyu's eyes widen slightly, "In short, your family were his first victims, then he went on a two-year hiatus, before continue murdering and targeting specifically Japanese refugees." Taylor continued.
"Murder... two-year hiatus... then continue..." Chifuyu was mumbling to himself in a low voice, "I see..." his eyes turned cold.
"What was that?" Taylor could hardly hear him from across the room.
"Nothing, old man. Thanks anyway," Chifuyu thanked him in a somewhat reluctant tone.
"He's one hell of a criminal, isn't he? A mastermind who can control other people like puppets..." Taylor lowered the phone in his hand to the table.
"Just like I said many times before; Parisians are rot-hearted, despicable creatures." Chifuyu spoke with his cold tone of voice, Taylor could tell he genuinely meant what he said. Taylor remained silent staring at the young Japanese for a few moments, before then turning his attention back to the phone box to redial the number he was going to call.
"This kid's mysterious all the time, but why does it feel different this time?" Taylor slowly raised the phone in his hand to his ear, "Most of the time, I feel he was just hiding his own problems and refused to open up, it's always none of my business to him. But now, it seems more like he knows something about this case that he decides to hide from me." He thought as he watched the 17-year-old continue effortlessly playing with his chain earring.
"It all makes sense... The chances of that man being the mastermind behind all this just increased dramatically," Chifuyu was deep in his own thoughts, "If that's the case, taking down the Harvesters first is definitely the best option. Someone like him will totally be left defenceless without them." Chifuyu has his own theories and suspicions, yet as he always does, he won't declare them before it's conformed and he's a hundred percent certain.
Chifuyu opened his eyes to see Taylor was no longer on the desk in his sight, he sat down and ruffled his hair slightly as he looked up at the clock.
"Did I fall asleep...?" he mumbled before yawning, then standing up to leave the room.
"You're awake, Chifuyu~!" Charlotte was in the living room with Eve, Lucas, and Victor.
"Huh?" Chifuyu paused, he didn't expect the number of people to be in the room when he entered.
"Did you have a nice nap, buddy?" Lucas approached him, "Want to chill with us? Or even join us playing cards?" he suggested.
"Nope, I'll pass..." Chifuyu's face puckered in pure disagreement, "I have more important things to do, if you'll excuse me." He added.
"You just hate crowded places, Chifuyu-kun..." Eve mumbled.
"That's a shame, but if it's your job, then it can't be helped." Victor smiled, creeping Chifuyu out and it showed on his face.
"Aren't you tired, Fuyuchi??" Lucas was disappointed.
"My job is more important than rest," Chifuyu turned to walk away.
"Chifuyu, I got what you wanted." Taylor just arrived back and showed Chifuyu a piece of folded paper.
"Good timing. Merci, le vieillard." Chifuyu grinned as he took the paper from Taylor, then fled out the door and leaped onto a roof before disappearing out of sight.
Chifuyu returned home to change into his Alabaster getup and stood at the edge of his rooftop home under the twilight sky, the wind blowing his white cloak as he unfolded the piece of paper.
"They're not too far from each other, I might be able to do this in one night." Chifuyu smiled as he puts on his mask, then he began sprinting on the roofs towards the direction.
Chifuyu arrived at the house of Zoey Robin, he was informed that this suspect lives alone, letting Chifuyu easily trespass through the window and discovered that the suspect wasn't home. The bedroom he entered was dark, but through the years as the Alabaster, he could easily see and move around in the dark. His swift moves avoid him from leaving trails in the room as he looked around. He spotted a plastic bag inside a cupboard that wasn't entirely closed, and he took the bag to look closer of the contents.
"Are these drugs?" he mumbled, noticing it was small containers of pills in the plastic bag. He decided to open the cupboard wider, and his eyes widen when the cupboard was filled with syringes and boxes of unknown drugs. "This suspect's a drug dealer, huh?" he sighed lightly before taking pictures of the contents of the cupboard and taking a few samples to bring with him, then he heard the front door opening.
"Whew, I'm so tired!" a woman's voice was heard from downstairs.
"Gotta run," Chifuyu thought as he quickly but quietly closed the cupboard, then jumped out the window, closed it, and hid himself on the roof just in time before the suspect opened the door and entered the room. "That was a close one..." he mumbled as he sighed in relieve, then stood up before taking out the memo to look at the other two addresses.
***
"Old man!" Chifuyu kicked open the door to Taylor's office in the Anderson residence.
"Chifuyu! It's only 7 a.m.!" the detective nearly fell out of his chair from the shock.
"You won't believe it~ This is the first time I ever gotten the jackpot in a murder case; I know my methods always work the best." Chifuyu grinned as he approached Taylor's desk with a paper bag in his hand.
"You really love intruding into homes, huh?" Taylor sighed from seeing how proud the 17-year-old was at the moment, but took out all of the contents of the paper bag carefully.
"Don't leave out the note we found on the crime scene, old man." Chifuyu reminded him, and Taylor quickly took the note sealed in a zip-lock bag to join it with the other evidences laid out on the table.
"Drugs?" Taylor watched Chifuyu sort out the evidences on the table.
"These are the ones I found in Zoey Robin's residence, apparently, she's a drug dealer and there's plenty types as you can see in this picture here." Chifuyu lifted the polaroid picture he took of the contents of the suspect's cupboard, "Then this is a picture of a notebook with a page torn out that I found in Ruby Charlie's residence, I investigated the notebook and it's the same exact paper as this note that was left on the crime scene. Additionally, there are indentation marks left on the page after the one that was torn out, I was able to get proper lighting to be able to take a picture of the page and the marks are the ones shown on this picture." He explained as he lifted a different picture from the table.
"I can see that Ruby Charlie has something to do with the crime, but what about Zoey Robin? What does these drugs have to do with this case? And aren't you missing Tony Alfred here?" Taylor was filled with questions.
"I guess I shouldn't have reported half-way through my investigation, huh...?" Chifuyu rolled his eyes.
"Excuse me," Jeffrey knocked and opened the door.
"Ah, perfect timing, Jerry~" Chifuyu grinned to him.
"That's Jeffrey to you, Monsieur la Personnalité." Jeffrey grumbled, "Here's the background records you wanted, Tsuguha." He reluctantly handed three folders to Chifuyu.
"Thanks," Chifuyu sneered as he took the folders from Jeffrey, "I'll continue for now, you can torment yourself with your unanswered questions, old man. I'm going to read and continue my investigation before I can report back to you later," he smirked at Taylor.
"You better come back with answers then," Taylor folded his arms as Chifuyu opened the door to leave.
"No worries, all will be answered soon when I'm a part of the investigation." Chifuyu gave the detectives a smug smile before leaving the room.
"His arrogance is never going to rest, huh?" Jeffrey groaned.
Chifuyu went to read in the living room, where his peace was quickly interrupted by Eve and Victor's arrival and his immediate reaction was to roll his eyes as he closed the files he was reading.
"Enjoy your time, I'll head somewhere else." Chifuyu stood up and jumped out of the window before the two can respond.
"Um, did I upset him somehow?" Victor asked Eve with a doubtful smile.
"I was just thinking the same thing..." Eve sighed while Chifuyu stopped to read on the roof of the house, finally a place inaccessible to others.
"Coming!" It was just an hour later, a young lady walked to the front door of her residence, she opened the door and paused from the unexpectedness for who was in front of her door.
"Good afternoon, I'm Senior Detective Taylor Anderson of the Paris Police's subordinate, Tsuguha." Chifuyu smiled as he introduced himself, "You are Blanche Collins, correct?" he asked politely.
"T-That's right," the young lady was somewhat anxious, "He's the Japanese prodigy investigator..." she thought.
"I am currently handling the murder case of Marie Gordon, and I arrive here today to ask you a few questions." Chifuyu informed her politely, "I discovered that you are a friend of Marie Gordon and Ruby Charlie, and I am doubtful that you don't know Tony Alfred and Zoey Robin as well." He continued.
"Yes, I-I know those people..."
"There's no need to be anxious, I just arrive here to have a short discussion with you." Chifuyu smiled as he tilted his head slightly, his silver chain earring swayed.
"I see, please come in." Blanche nodded and opened the door for Chifuyu to come in, then they sat down in the living room.
"I would like you to make it clear to me beforehand, what is your relationship with those four names I mentioned?" Chifuyu leaned back on the backrest of the sofa.
"I was just a friend; I don't really hang out with them that much because I'm not really comfortable socializing. But when I do hang out with them, it was just small events and I don't really go to parties. Even so, I only know Zoey's name and what she looks like, I never actually hung out with her." Blanche explained.
"Wonderful, in that case, someone like you wouldn't be threatened to remain silent, right?" Chifuyu smiled.
"T-That's right, I'm not really anyone to them." Blanche agreed hesitantly, something about Chifuyu's smile terrified her.
"Moving on; I have proceeded my investigations and concluded that both Zoey Robin and Ruby Charlie are involved in the murder." Chifuyu averted his eyes.
"Huh?" Blanche seemed surprised.
"For someone like Ruby Charlie who is Marie Gordon's close friend to be involved in her murder, do you have any idea what motive Ruby Charlie would have?" Chifuyu asked her.
"Now that you said that, I think I know what her motive might be." An idea popped in Blanche's head, "Actually, I overheard and saw Tony with Ruby and they were having a secret relationship behind Marie's back. It's been a week since I found out now," she told Chifuyu.
"So, Ruby Charlie is trying to get rid of Marie Gordon to have Tony Alfred all to herself?" Chifuyu immediately caught on the idea, "In that case, this is premeditated murder." He placed his finger on his chin.
"I believe so," Blanche nodded her head.
"Gosh, this turned out to be some stupid love triangle gone wrong, huh?" Chifuyu rolled his eyes, accidentally showing his unprofessional side and slightly surprised Blanche. "Apologies, do you have a phone I can borrow for a moment?" he smiled suddenly.
"Y-Yes, it's right there." Blanche confusedly pointed at the phone behind Chifuyu.
"Thank you," Chifuyu stood up and began being busy on the phone.
"He looks around my age..." Blanche was staring at Chifuyu as he lifted the phone to his ear.
"This is Taylor Anderson, Senior Investigator of the Investigation Department, Paris Police."
"Hey, old man. Has the autopsy of Marie Gordon came out yet?" Chifuyu's jaunty tone of voice caught Blanche off guard.
"Old man...??"
"Don't 'hey, old man' me, kid. And no, it'll be coming out later in two hours." Taylor grunted at the other end of the call.
"So slow... Fine, I'll try and do something for two hours." Chifuyu sighed, "Anyways, can you get blood tests on the three suspects please?" he added.
"Huh?" Taylor found his request quite random, "Alright, I'll get to it." He decided to do it anyways.
"Great~! Find me when the results are out," Chifuyu grinned mischievously.
"Wait! How-" Chifuyu ended the call before Taylor could continue, the detective was frozen on his seat for a few seconds. "That runt..." he clenched the phone in his hand before frustratedly slamming it back on its box.
"Thank you for your time and information, Miss Collins. I shall take my leave now," Chifuyu smiled and bowed politely to Blanche, "You will be a star witness in the trial, feel free to come find me if you have any questions or if you have any further information." He walked to the front door with Blanche following behind him.
"Yes, I'm glad I could be of assistance." Blanche nodded.
"Farewell for now," Chifuyu waved before turning to walk away.
"Thank you for visiting," Blanche waved back, "Wow, he's a really interesting fellow." She mumbled as she watched him walk away.
"I'm actually glad I decided to follow his quote-unquote; orders for once," Taylor had the results of the autopsy and blood tests when he returned to the office, "It's quite impressive he quickly thought of taking the suspects' blood test," he had Jeffrey with him.
"All we need to do is find him now..." Jeffrey placed his hands on his hips, "C'est un truc de fou! He could be anywhere right now!" he was thinking of ways to find Chifuyu.
"The tea and coffee are ready," Lucas knocked on the door and entered with a tray in his hands.
"Bon timing, Lucas. Do you have any idea how to find your spunky and smartass Japanese friend?" Taylor asked Lucas as he placed the tray of drinks on the desk.
"Oh, Fuyuchi?" Lucas tilted his head, "I'm not sure, but he'll definitely show up soon." He smiled doubtfully.
"I hope so, surely he knows that nobody would be able to find him, right?" Jeffrey groaned as he sat down on the sofa, where Chifuyu usually naps.
Chifuyu just landed on the sidewalk to walk towards the Anderson residence, deep in his mind and wasn't paying attention to where he was going until he bumped into a young woman.
"Oh, I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention," Chifuyu quickly apologized.
"You're... Japanese..." the young woman seemed surprised to see him, Chifuyu also paused encountering another Japanese.
"Wait, why are you out in the open like this? Are you not aware that a murderer, The Reaper targets Japanese people?" Chifuyu questioned her.
"I am aware, but I have to go out to get food for my young children." The woman responded in a whisper, "What about you? Why is a young lad like you out and alone?" she asked him.
"That's my line, why is a woman alone?" Chifuyu corrected her, "I can defend myself just fine," he told her.
"Is that so?"
"Yes," Chifuyu nodded in assurance, "I'll accompany you, come on. Where are you going?" he added.
"I'm heading to get milk and other groceries at the market nearby,"
"Alright,"
"You're finally here..." Taylor welcomed Chifuyu with a subtle growl when the 17-year-old entered the room.
"Can you relax? I was helping a fellow Japanese shop for her children," Chifuyu rolled his eyes.
"I'm the one who's supposed to be rolling my eyes here," Jeffrey was nearly falling asleep waiting for his arrival.
"So? Are the results out?" Jeffrey gritted his teeth when Chifuyu completely ignored him.
"Yes, the blood test results mainly are the one that surprised me." Taylor nodded as he handed the documents to Chifuyu for him to read, "A high dosage of an unknown drug was in Tony Alfred's system, we're still unable to identify the name of the drug from the traces, but we're sure it's a sort of drug that caused hallucination and other effects as such." Taylor told Chifuyu a short summary, as Chifuyu flipped through the pages for a quick read.
"With this, I can be sure of my theory now~" Chifuyu grinned as he placed the documents on the table in front of Taylor, "I went to interview someone who knew the three suspects an hour ago and her information led me to conclude this crime with all three of them as the executors," he leaned his back against the wall near Taylor's table.
"All three of them?" Jeffrey was not expecting that conclusion.
"Explain please," Taylor was intrigued.
"Marie Gordon is Tony Alfred's official girlfriend, but her boyfriend secretly has a relationship with Ruby Charlie. Ruby Charlie eventually wants to get rid of Marie Gordon to have Tony Alfred all to herself, and she had a discussion with Zoey Robin for the plan. According to the analysis of Tony Alfred's blood, he was under the influence of whatever drug Zoey Robin had in her possession. Because there is Tony Alfred's DNA alone in the crime scene and on the note, I assume he was under the influence and murdered Marie Gordon. But from the indentations I found on Ruby Charlie's notebook, she's the one who wrote the note and possibly passed to Tony Alfred to place in the crime scene." Chifuyu explained, "It's just a crazy love triangle and a little stupid to be completely honest," he shrugged as he averted his eyes.
"What about the drug?" Taylor asked.
"Well, if you can be so kind to arrest all three of them, I might be able to explore Zoey Robin's residence more freely to discover what drug that was." Chifuyu smiled ear-to-ear.
"Alright, we hear you." Taylor stood up from his chair, containing his urge to punch the 17-year-old at the same time. "Let's get moving, then." He went to take his hat and coat, before heading out with Jeffrey and Chifuyu.
They successfully placed Ruby and Tony under arrest and taken to the police station immediately, and they were at the last location which is Zoey's residence. Chifuyu was watching from hinger ground and a distance away from the commotion, and he was waiting on the roof of the house across the street from Zoey's residence. He watched Taylor along with Jeffrey and his men knock on the door of the house, but it was quite some time without an answer. Chifuyu furrowed a brow when Taylor kicked the door down and entered the house, only to come back out with a serious expression on his face.
"Zoey Robin has committed suicide!" he shouted and alerted Chifuyu, who immediately jumped down to join the team.
"She caught on really quick, huh?" Chifuyu calmly enters the house, "I'll leave her to you, I'll start my investigation." He turned to Taylor shortly before continuing his way to look around the house, while Taylor's men started handling the dead body in the living room that hanging from the ceiling.
"Is he cold-hearted or something?" Jeffrey didn't expect Chifuyu's calm reaction.
"You haven't been to a murder or death crime scene with him, haven't you?" Taylor asked him back, "He's not new to it anymore, he's unaffected to things like this now." He told Jeffrey.
"Oh, right." Jeffrey sighed; he was still not used to entering death crime scenes because of his start in the crime investigation division not long ago. "Still, how can he smile in places like this...?" he mumbled as he watched their men taking the dead body out of the house.
"Kid! How's it going?" Taylor approached Chifuyu when Chifuyu just finished checking the bedroom once again.
"I haven't gone through the whole house, be patient, will you?" Chifuyu lowered his eyelids, "Is your impatience increasing together with your age or something?" he turned away to head to the backyard.
"I'm still 46, stop making me sound like I'm in my 70s." Taylor complained as he watched Chifuyu walk around the backyard.
"Guess you're mentally 70, huh?" Chifuyu smirked as he continued observing while walking around, both of them pause when they heard a creak from whatever Chifuyu was stepping on when he reached the corner of the small grass yard. "Wood?" he mumbled as he tapped his feet on the grass where he was standing, then he squatted down to move the patches of grass aside as Taylor approached him.
"Is that a box?" Taylor said when a wooden cover was revealed, hidden under the patch of grass. Chifuyu calmly lifted the wooden lid and he paused together with Taylor as soon as they saw the contents of the box, there were small glass bottles of clear blueish-green liquid in them and small clean syringes. "What the hell are these?" Taylor took one of the bottles after putting on rubber gloves, followed by Chifuyu.
"This emblem..." Chifuyu's eyes widen in shock, but he remained silent.
"Do you know what these are?" Taylor noticed Chifuyu's change of expression.
"N-No, I don't." Chifuyu broke from his daze and shook his head slightly.
"Well, I'll take them to be tested in the lab, it could be a really terrible drug and the one used on Tony Alfred." Taylor closed the box and took it out of the dirt to bring with him, "Don't do anything crazy with that, got it?" he remembers Chifuyu had one in his hand.
"I know, I know..." Chifuyu rolled his eyes, then Taylor left the backyard without him. "These are definitely his, it's a drag Zoey Robin committed suicide, I wanted to ask her about where she discovered these drugs. But I'm sure, she was probably injected with these herself and killed herself before she was found by the police with these drugs in her possession, she's definitely like those victim hitmen as well; too scared to face whatever punishment in store for her if she blurts out a single information regarding him." Chifuyu thought before putting the small bottle in his jacket pocket, then walked out to join Taylor and Jeffrey outside.
***
Taylor was in his office, he just finished making phone calls when his daughter entered the room to give him his cup of tea for break in the noon.
"Eve, is Chifuyu napping somewhere or something?" Taylor asked her.
"Um, I don't think I've seen him today yet." Eve tilted her head.
"What is he doing?? Since when is he absent when he's needed??" Taylor sighed as he went through a few files.
"Good afternoon..." Chifuyu appeared in the opened doorway of the office door.
"Chifuyu-kun, are you okay?!" Eve quickly noticed the dark circles under his eyes also how pale and exhausted he is before he plopped onto the sofa in the office.
"Can you leave the room, Eve?" Taylor suddenly turned sombre.
"O-Okay..." Eve quickly left the room and closed the door behind her.
"Chifuyu, were you ambush by another Harvester?" Taylor asked him after a few moments of silence.
"No, I just had a rough night..." Chifuyu rubbed his eyes as he spoke with a coarse voice.
"What happened...?" Taylor doesn't know Chifuyu well enough to guess what he might be did last night, but Chifuyu responded by simply taking out the small glass bottle of the unknown drug from his jacket pocket and showed it to Taylor, it was empty. "Did you inject yourself with that??!!" Taylor shouted in shock.